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A young woown, and her hair was tied back at her neck with a ribbon

Sierra Monte

"Help o to her She moved slowly, afraid the apparition would vanish if she moved too fast

As she ca the first

Kelsey paused Those ere decent in life, she told herself, would be decent in death But what about those who hadn’t been so decent?

Be careful!

She didn’t know if she spoke the words out loud or in her mind For a moment, she was seized with fear--fear that she’d co

But Sierra turned slightly and san to take shape, and Kelsey saw that it was the woman she knew froley

The woether

"Tell , I swear, we’re trying Can you help us? We need your help, don’t you see?"

Rose set a gentle hand on Sierra’s shoulder "It’s the stone," she said "They alant the stone"

"Where is the stone?" Kelsey asked

"I…don’t know," Rose said "But it was cursed They said it was cursed And so it was, and so it is today"

"Sierra, did you find the stone?" Kelsey asked next

"They thought I could" She shook her head "It was my fault I pretended I knew so much, that I could reach out and touch the dead And now, I am the dead" Her melodic, thin-as-air voice seemed to break

"Who, Sierra, who?"

"I don’t know! I re…I don’t even reed

"I will help you, I swear I’ll do anything I can," Kelsey promised

"No…no…you mustn’t! They know about you They’ll slip in when you’re sleeping They’ll come, and you won’t remember If you can’t find the stone, you’ll fail them, and you won’t remember what you said or how you died, and you’ll wake up and you’ll be with us"

There was a sudden, loud knock at her door Kelsey jus, but as if they’d never been

"Kelsey? Kelsey! Are you all right?"

It was Sandy Kelsey cursed her bad luck or her foolishness She should’ve tracked down Sandy, told her she was there, explained that she orking

She gritted her teeth, not wanting to look angry when she opened the door She ed a smile

Sandy stared at her for aa pest and you ran up here You’re not usually back in theon…I was just worried"

"That’s sweet of you, Sandy But I’s to do that I needed a bit of privacy to accomplish, so I came back here and holed up"

Sandy still looked worried, and Kelsey gave her a hug "I swear, I’m fine"

"Okay, then I’ll leave you to your own devices"

As Sandy backed away from the door, Kelsey called out, "Oh, Sandy, thank you!"

"For what?"

"You helped us treirls with inforreat," Sandy said, then sighed loudly "Oh, Kelsey! Why couldn’t you have been a runway model? Then I wouldn’t have had to worry about you all the ti, I’m not that thin For another--well, then you’d really have to worry about h heels, I’d have broken my neck on the runway So, kid, I’o, but ca back, obviously flustered "Kelsey, he’s down there!"

"Who is?"

"Hio and play hostess"

"He ca innkeep in town Go on! Buy hio downstairs She looked around the rooone

"Why can’t we figure out how to do dial-a-ghost?" sheat the corner A moment later, she stood and walked over to the wall, then went out to the hallway and studied the roo She caer she did, the ht

Now she had a plan

And now, all she had to do ork out how to implement it